Devices have been developed for cleaning the shaving head of a dry shaving apparatus. For example, German Patent No. DE 44 02 237 C1, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference, discloses a receptacle configured for receiving the shaving head of a dry shaving apparatus. The receptacle is trough-shaped to conform to the contour of the shaving head and fully accommodates said shaving head. The receptacle has an outlet opening and an overflow which lead into a collecting container. The collecting container is connected by a conduit to the reservoir for the cleaning fluid. At the beginning of the cleaning cycle the cleaning fluid is conveyed by the motor-driven impelling device out of the reservoir into the receptacle. The outlet opening and the impelling device are coordinated such that the cleaning fluid is discharged through the outlet opening as well as through the overflow into the collecting container. The overflow acts simultaneously as a safety device which prevents the cleaning fluid from exceeding a predetermined level in the receptacle. In this way cleaning fluid is flushed through the receptacle continuously during the cleaning cycle. Hair residues are permanently carried away as the result of the continuous flushing of the receptacle.
Due to the continuous flushing of the receptacle, the impelling device has to be maintained in operation for the full length of the cleaning cycle. Furthermore, the impelling device requires a relatively high delivery rate in order for the receptacle to always be full during the cleaning cycle and for the cleaning fluid to be discharged through the outlet opening as well as through the overflow. The high motor speed and the resultant relatively high level of noise can be disturbing for a user. Alternative approaches reduce the size of the outlet opening, thereby reducing the throughput of cleaning fluid. Accordingly, the motor and the motor-driven impelling device could be operated at a lower speed, which would result in a reduction of the noise. However, the outlet opening has to be of a size sufficient for the flushed out hair residues to be discharged and, it is impractical to readily reduce the size of the outlet opening. Furthermore, the cleaning effect of the cleaning device with the current throughput of cleaning fluid is already insufficient in some cases. In particular when the shaving head is not cleaned immediately after use of the dry shaving apparatus, residues on the shaving head, which include skin and hair particles in combination with serum, perspiration, water and/or skin cream, may dry out, thereby forming particularly stubborn deposits. In extreme cases neither the cleaning fluid stream in the receptacle nor the additional movement of the shaving head are sufficient to dislodge these stubbornly adhering deposits within a short time. It may not even be possible to reliably dissolve or at least incipiently dislodge these deposits in a brief soaking stage preceding the cleaning cycle. Consequently, the cleaning process takes a very long time to achieve a satisfactory cleaning result on the shaving head. However, the long running times of the motor-driven impelling device and the dry shaving apparatus lead to a considerable noise nuisance. Furthermore, various constituents of the cleaning fluid, e.g., alcohol, may attack the components of the dry shaving apparatus and the cleaning device during lengthy cleaning processes, thus limiting the choice of suitable materials and applied surface finishes.